Free Joint Preliminary Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:05-cv-01058-FMA

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS HAL D. HICKS, f/d/b/a HAL D. HICKS MAIL TRANSPORTATION, Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 05-1058C (Judge Allegra)

JOINT PRELIMINARY STATUS REPORT Pursuant to Rule 16 and Appendix A of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims ("RCFC"), counsel for plaintiff, Hal D. Hicks, and defendant, the United States, submit the following joint preliminary status report: a. Jurisdiction

Plaintiff states that the Court possesses jurisdiction to entertain this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1491. Defendant is

not aware of a basis upon which to challenge the Court's jurisdiction at this time. b. Consolidation

The parties agree that this case should not be consolidated with any other case. c. Bifurcation

The parties agree that trial of liability and damages should not be bifurcated.

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d.

Deferral

The parties agree that further proceedings in this case should not be deferred pending consideration of another case before this Court or any other tribunal. e. Remand/Suspension

The parties agree that no remand or suspension will be sought. f. Joinder

The parties agree that no additional parties will be joined. g. Dispositive Motions

At this time, the parties do not anticipate filing motions pursuant to RCFC 12(b) or 12(c). However, either before, or

upon, completion of discovery, the parties may file dispositive motions pursuant to RCFC 56. h. 1. Relevant Issues Whether the United States Postal Service breached any

contract with plaintiff by unilaterally transferring or novating the contract to another party. 2. In the event plaintiff prevails upon the issue of

liability, the amount of damages, if any, to which plaintiff is entitled.

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i.

Settlement

The parties anticipate pursuing settlement negotiations upon an informal basis as the litigation progresses. j. Trial

As stated above, one or both parties may move for summary judgment pursuant to RCFC 56. If dispositive motions are not

submitted, or if they are not completely dispositive of this action, the parties anticipate proceeding to trial. do not request expedited trial scheduling. The parties

The parties

anticipate that a trial would take place in Washington, D.C. k. Electronic Case Management

Parties have no special issue regarding electronic case management needs. l. Additional Information

There is no additional information of which the Court should be aware at this time. m. Proposed Discovery Plan

The parties plan to conduct discovery simultaneously, and propose the following discovery plan in accordance with RCFC Appendix A ¶ 5: 1. Pursuant to RCFC 26(a)(1), initial disclosures shall be

made by April 24, 2006. 2. Fact discovery shall commence immediately upon all

issues, and shall be completed by August 24, 2006.

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3.

At this time, it is not anticipated that the parties In the event that either party

will require expert discovery.

decides to rely upon expert opinion, the parties shall comply with the requirements of RCFC 26(a)(2).

Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director

S/ BRIAN M. SIMKIN BRIAN M. SIMKIN Assistant Director

s/ JOHN F. THEIL JOHN F. THEIL
120 S. Central Ave.

Suite 1550 St. Louis, MO 63105 Tel: (314) 446-4278 Fax: (314) 241-7604

s/ PAUL R. WELLONS PAUL R. WELLONS Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division Department of Justice Attn: Classification Unit 8th Floor 1100 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Tel: (202) 616-8253 Fax: (202) 307-0972 Attorneys for Defendant

Attorney for Plaintiff

March 31, 2006

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CERTIFICATE OF FILING I hereby certify that on March 31, 2006, a copy of the foregoing "JOINT PRELIMINARY STATUS REPORT" was filed electronically. I understand that notice of this filing will be

sent to all parties by operation of the Court's electronic filing system. system. Parties may access this filing through the Court's

s/ PAUL R. WELLONS